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Title: Dissection of the Voltage Losses of an Acidic Quinone Redox Flow Battery

Abstract

We measure the polarization characteristics of a quinone-bromide redox flow battery with interdigitated flow fields, using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and voltammetry of a full cell and of a half cell against a reference electrode. We find linear polarization behavior at 50% state of charge all the way to the short-circuit current density of 2.5 A/cm2. We uniquely identify the polarization area-specific resistance (ASR) of each electrode, the membrane ASR to ionic current, and the electronic contact ASR. We use voltage probes to deduce the electronic current density through each sheet of carbon paper in the quinone-bearing electrode. By also interpreting the results using the Newman 1-D porous electrode model, we deduce the volumetric exchange current density of the porous electrode. We uniquely evaluate the power dissipation and identify a correspondence to the contributions to the electrode ASR from the faradaic, electronic, and ionic transport processes. We find that, within the electrode, more power is dissipated in the faradaic process than in the electronic and ionic conduction processes combined, despite the observed linear polarization behavior. We examine the sensitivity of the ASR to the values of the model parameters. The greatest performance improvement is anticipated from increasing the volumetric exchange currentmore » density.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS); Hong Kong Univ. of Science and Technology, Kowloon (China). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  2. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center (MassCEC), Boston, MA (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
1422403
Grant/Contract Number:  
AR0000348
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 164; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 25 ENERGY STORAGE; Flow batteries; Modeling

Citation Formats

Chen, Qing, Gerhardt, Michael R., and Aziz, Michael J. Dissection of the Voltage Losses of an Acidic Quinone Redox Flow Battery. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1149/2.0721706jes.
Chen, Qing, Gerhardt, Michael R., & Aziz, Michael J. Dissection of the Voltage Losses of an Acidic Quinone Redox Flow Battery. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0721706jes
Chen, Qing, Gerhardt, Michael R., and Aziz, Michael J. Tue . "Dissection of the Voltage Losses of an Acidic Quinone Redox Flow Battery". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0721706jes. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1422403.
@article{osti_1422403,
title = {Dissection of the Voltage Losses of an Acidic Quinone Redox Flow Battery},
author = {Chen, Qing and Gerhardt, Michael R. and Aziz, Michael J.},
abstractNote = {We measure the polarization characteristics of a quinone-bromide redox flow battery with interdigitated flow fields, using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and voltammetry of a full cell and of a half cell against a reference electrode. We find linear polarization behavior at 50% state of charge all the way to the short-circuit current density of 2.5 A/cm2. We uniquely identify the polarization area-specific resistance (ASR) of each electrode, the membrane ASR to ionic current, and the electronic contact ASR. We use voltage probes to deduce the electronic current density through each sheet of carbon paper in the quinone-bearing electrode. By also interpreting the results using the Newman 1-D porous electrode model, we deduce the volumetric exchange current density of the porous electrode. We uniquely evaluate the power dissipation and identify a correspondence to the contributions to the electrode ASR from the faradaic, electronic, and ionic transport processes. We find that, within the electrode, more power is dissipated in the faradaic process than in the electronic and ionic conduction processes combined, despite the observed linear polarization behavior. We examine the sensitivity of the ASR to the values of the model parameters. The greatest performance improvement is anticipated from increasing the volumetric exchange current density.},
doi = {10.1149/2.0721706jes},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 6,
volume = 164,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Tue Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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Cited by: 33 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Redox flow batteries—Concepts and chemistries for cost-effective energy storage
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Redox targeting-based flow batteries
journal, August 2019


The Effect of Interdigitated Channel and Land Dimensions on Flow Cell Performance
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Effect of Operating Temperature on Individual Half-Cell Reactions in All-Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
journal, November 2018